1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to gloves for the human hand which are worn when playing sports such as baseball, softball, and the like. In one aspect, this invention relates to a batting glove specifically designed to improve grip, comfort, protection, and performance of a wearer. However, this invention has broader implications and may be advantageously employed in other applications requiring protection of the hands. More particularly, this invention relates to a catcher""s mitt which includes additional padding in selected areas to provide additional protection of the hand during use by the wearer.
2. Description of Related Art
Glove construction for protection of the human hand is well known. In addition, there are a number of patents which teach gloves claimed to be particularly useful as batting gloves. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,175,226 teaches a dress glove construction which completely covers the fingers and which includes resiliently expandable materials in selected areas to accommodate hands of different sizes. In contrast, U.S. Pat. No. 4,561,122 teaches a protective glove which has a wrap around construction for a protective glove which leaves the thumb and fingers ends exposed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,609 teaches a protective glove which includes shock absorbing cells disposed at selected portions along the top of the glove. U.S. Pat. No. 5,790,980 teaches a hand glove with a polyurethane foam pad in the palm portion of the glove. Other references attempt to provide a sport glove for supporting and stabilizing the wrist and hand. Current gloves protect the bony prominence areas of the hand. Although hand protection from direct shocks and abrasions is found in gloves of the current art, what is needed is a batting glove which provides improved grip, comfort and performance by unloading bony prominences, unloading pulleys and tendons, and improving finger and knuckle motion of the hand of a wearer by providing preselected thicknesses of preselected materials specifically chosen to protect the wearer from injury from distributed shocks in hitting a ball with a bat, and the attendant risk of long-term injury to the aforementioned bones, ligaments, pulleys, tendons, etc., by repetitive swinging of bats and hitting of balls.
Also, catcher""s mitt for use in baseball and fast pitch softball are well known. These mitts are generally constructed wherein the mitts are of generally circular configuration with a cut-out between a portion to receive a thumb of a wearer and the fingers of a wearer with webbing disposed between the thumb section and the finger section. Mitts are generally constructed to include padding to protect the hand of the wearer. However, very little consideration has been given to specific anatomical portions of the human hands to protect those anatomical portions which are more susceptible to injury when the wearer receives a hard thrown ball.
In the development of gloves, several key elements are utilized in the design. First, on the dorsal side of the glove, the motion zones are determined by the center axis of rotation of the individual thumb, finger, hand, and wrist joints. These motion zones have been applied to specific joint locations for the particular uses of a designed glove. This helps the flexibility of the glove in relationship to its use. As such, the motion zones are selected in various combinations or even individually depending on the specific task or function of the glove.
Secondly, on the palm side of the glove there are additional motion zones. Again, these motion zones, which also function to decrease glove impedance and improve the breath-ability of the glove, are located specifically in relationship to the center axis of rotation of the finger joints.
Thirdly, again on the palm side of the glove, there are specific areas of padding. The location of the padding is determined by the bone and joint anatomy of the hand, fingers, and thumb. For the hand, the palm pad is placed above the center axis of rotation of the wrist (i.e., just above or distal to the hook of the hamate) and just below the center axis of rotation of the metacarpal heads. These bony landmarks are actually quite prominent in relationship to the surface of the hand. By placing the pads between the bony prominences, these areas of the hand are unloaded. The type of pad chosen for the palm is specific to its function. Other applications require some adjustments to the pad, but the basic premise still remains to unload the bony prominences of the hand in relationship to the required object to be held.
The pads for the fingers are placed again between the bony prominences of each specific finger bone (phalanx). The individual pads of the digits are placed over the relatively flat portion of the phalanx and as such, between the joints that are present on each side of the respective phalanx. The pad does not cover the area near the center axis of rotation. Again, this unloads these bony areas and leads to more even distribution of force across the digit. In other words, decreased areas of concentrated pressure, i.e, over the bony prominences and individual phalanxes will experience less discomfort. Of course, improved comfort leads to better grip and performance of the specific task in question. The pads on the fingers are placed over the proximal and middle phalanx of each digit. Because of the relative bony and flexor tendon pulley anatomy, these regions correlate with the A2 and A4 pulleys specifically. Furthermore, this placement allows for unrestricted motion of the various finger and hand joints by precisely keeping the pads away from the center axis of rotation (for each specific joint). Depending on the use of the glove, various combinations, or even independent use of these pads could be utilized in glove construction. Additionally, the pads may have different sizes and shapes depending on the application. However, the pads would still be centered primarily between the bony prominences and away from the center axis of rotation for each joint.
The pad for the thumb is placed between the bony prominences of the first phalanx, primarily on the lateral (side) region. Again, the pad is located above the center axis of rotation of the metacarpalphalangeal joint of the thumb and below the center axis of rotation of the interphalangeal joint of the thumb. Other applications to this pad placement are quite numerous. Even this pad could be an application in combination with all, some, one, or none of the finger and palm pads depending on the task.
Optionally, pads may also be placed over the distal phalanx of each digit, just beyond the bony prominences. This pad would be above (distal) the center axis of rotation of the distal interphalangeal joint of the respective finger. As such, three pads could be placed over each finger depending on the use required for the glove.
The motion zone for the wrist area is also determined by the center axis of rotation of the wrist joint. This allows for essentially full motion of the wrist, while at the same time, avoiding dislodgement of the glove from the player""s hand. Not all gloves require or benefit from a wrist motion zone. However, a combination of the finger, thumb, hand, and wrist motion zones determined by the joints center axis of rotation may be utilized for various glove applications.
An object of the present invention is to provide a batting glove which takes stress off of selected parts of the human hand.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a batting glove having preselected materials of construction in different areas of contact with the human hand.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a batting glove having preselected thicknesses of preselected materials of construction in different areas of contact with the human hand.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a batting glove which uses different materials to allow wrist motion, unload bony prominences, improve finger and knuckle motion, and protect the back of the hand.
Also, an object of the present invention is to provide a catcher""s mitt which takes stress off of selected parts of the human hand when the mitt is in use.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a catcher""s mitt with additional padding added to selected areas of the mitt for protecting selected anatomical portions of the human hand.
In one aspect, the present invention provides a batting glove including preselected material in preselected thicknesses to fill in the soft spots surrounding the bony prominences of the hand, to unload the pulleys and tendons, and to take stress off of selected parts of the hand. Specifically, 2-Way SPANDEX(copyright) materials are used in the wrist motion zone of the glove; thin elastic material such as LYCRA(copyright) is used in the area of the finger joints and knuckles; synthetic material such as JANEC SUPER(copyright) is used in the area of the dorsal side of the fingers; a cabretta skin protective covering is used for selected parts of the hand, rubber foam protective padding is placed at selected contact areas, and soft padding such as terry cotton is placed inside the glove in selected areas.
More particularly, the present invention provides a baseball (softball) catcher""s mitt which includes a top portion and a bottom portion secured along outer peripheries of each portion to define a mitt body with an opening therebetween to receive a human hand with a thumb stall and a plurality of finger stalls for receiving a thumb and fingers of the human hand. Within the mitt body is a first layer of protective padding which is dispersed throughout the mitt body with the concentration of the padding being along the outer periphery. The bottom portion is also provided with a second layer of protective padding attached at selected areas thereof. The selected areas are defined by the location of anatomical parts of the human hand when inserted into the mitt. Specifically, the second layer of protective padding, which is usually a foam rubber or another foamed elastomeric material includes at least a first area above and a second area below the center axis of rotation of a proximal interphalangeal joint of an index finger. Other areas of the second layer of protective padding may be added above the center axis of rotation of the wrists and just below the center axis of rotation of the metacarpal heads. Moreover, the second layer of protective padding may be placed over the areas which cover other specific phalanxes including the relative flat portion of the phalanxes and as such, between the joints that are present on each side of the respective phalanx, but leaving open the area of and around the center axis of rotation of the joint. Other areas which may also include this second layer of protective padding, may include the area which overlies the proximal phalanx of the thumb between the bony prominences and an area which overlies the bony prominences of the thumb proximal phalanx, between the proximate and distal ends of the thumb proximal phalanx.
It is realized that in describing the instant invention as a baseball catcher""s mitt, such term includes a softball catcher""s mitt as well. And, further objects and advantages of this invention will appear from the following description and appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of the specification wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts into several views.